Man s undergarment



June 12. 1928.

A. RUDEN ET AL MAN 5 UNDERGARMENT Filed July '7, 19 27 2 Sheets-Sheet 311 9011 501; Annie Rude Ellis fiRuden June 12, 1928.

A. RUDEN ET AL MAN S UNDERGARMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July '7, 1927 Patented June 12, 1928.

UNITED STATES ANNIE RUBEN AND ELLIS H. RUBEN, or snn'r'rmz, WASHINGTON.

MAN'S UNDERGARMENT.

Application filed July 7, 1827. Serial No 208,980.

Our invention relates to an improvement in undergarments, particularly of the type generally known as meus athletic union suits.

One of the objects of our invention is to produce such avunion suit in which the front sides, right and left, are made in one piece, the garment as a whole having no buttons, and the neck opening being defined by a yoke or neck piece to hold the garment in shape. i Particularly, .it is an object to provide such a garment which has every appearance of an ordinary union suit, which buttons down the front, but which, in fact, has no buttons, at least in the front, and which will besimple and convenient to get into, which will not sag or fall away from the body in any posture, and which has all of the features of the ordinary suit buttoning down the entire front.

A further object is the'provision in such a buttonless suit of a means for holding the suit in shape at the neck, and of strengthening and preventing, the suit from tearing out during the steps of getting into or out of the garment.

It is a further object to form the suit,'at least the front pieces thereof, in one continuous piece from shoulder to knee, to make the suit stronger and'of better appearancethan inthe ordinary union suit, where in the are frequently made in two pieces.

A. fdxrther object is the manufacture of such a buttonless suit involving all of the advantages of a button suit, combined with the advantages of a buttonlessvsuit, and in which a minimum amount of clothis emploed.

ur invention comprises the novel parts and the novel'arrangement thereof, as shown in the accompanying drawings, described in the specification, and'partlculary defined by the claims which terminate the same.

In the accompanying drawings, we have shown our invention embodied ina mans union suit in the form now preferredby us.

Figure 1 is a frontelevation of such a suit laid flat; y v

Figure 2 is a section through such a suit taken through a medial plane on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 isairinside View of the front of such a garment, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Our invention is not concerned with the form assumed by the backside of the. gar-i ment, or the crotch portioinand hence we shall describe the back portion, 1 and crotch portion 10 only as made up in any suitable fashion, including if desired a portion ll of elastic material to accomn'iodate bending. So far as the present invention is concerned, it is immaterial whether the back portion be made in one or several pieces, and it is likewise immaterial what particular type of crotch and seat portion are employed, and

for purposes of simplicity of description the crotch portionwill be assumed to form part of the back.

The front is formed of two halves which, for convenience, may be designated as the right half 2 and the left half 3. Preferably each of these is formed in one-piece, cxtending from shoulder to knee. These are secured to the back 1 or the crotch portion 10 along the'seams 12, 13 and 14. This manner of assembly is customary in such union suits, but ordinarily the inner edges of the front sections 2 and 3 are provided with buttons andbuttonholes; in our present garment the construction differs from the ordinary construction, as will be described here after. It is desired to point out at this time that while we may describe one section, the right, for example, as having a peculiar construction, and the left as having a different construction, it is largely immaterial whether the right or the left is provided with the construction described, as the pattern might be reversed.

With the above understood, it will be noted that the right front iece 2 is provided with a wing 20 extending beyond the medial line which extends vertically of the garment. This wing 20 has its greatest extent at a point between the waist line and the arm pits, at least preferably not lower than the waist and 'referably, also, not higher than the arm plts. The edge 21 of this piece swings from the right shoulder inward to the medial line, crosses it, and extends to this point of greatest horizontal extent on the left side of the. garment, and between the waist and arm pit levels. The right frontlpiece 3, on the other hand, does not extend past the medial line referred to. Its edge 31'swings inward from the shoulder seam 12 to the medial line, intersecting it at aboutthe same point as the edge 21, and

r then curves directly downward, following the medial line to the crotch. 1hus,lwith the wing 20 inside of the left trout piece 3, the garment has the appearance of the ord-inary button garment, and l-igs not the crossed or bodice appearance sometimes associated with buttonless garments. The back,

moreover, does not diil er in any essential respect from. the ordinary athletic type union suitback.

It maybe well "to note that appearance plays a "large part in the purchase of such garments. A man who is accustomed to a I ven style or out, will not buy a radically ifferent but withouta compelling reason. If he ca be showni'fhat he can eliminate the bother of buttons, in a suit having'the appearance of a button garment, without the doubled and redouble/d thicknesses, usually.

associated with buttonless garmentsfand without the feminine suggestion en'iboc'lied.

in a garniient wherein the body portions and trunks are from separate pieces, and the waist defined by the seam joinin them, he will try the new suit, but first of all the appearance must be approximately that to which he is accustomed. Hence, we 'laycoir siderable stress the fact that the edge of the right front piece 3, which is outermost, follows the usual lines from shoulder to waist, yet the left front piece, underneath, sivfngs over to the rig side, to hold it in place on the weareryand to enable him to get into and out of the garment.

The two trout pieces 2 and?) are joined along'a horizontal line at about thepoint of greatest extent of the wing '20, but not thereabove. This permits separation of the two front pieces 2 and 3 above this line 32 for getting in or out et the garment. Beloivthis level the two p eces are seamed together, as indicated at 23, along the medial line, at least to a point 33. Thus there is provided the same effect as "two buttons at or near the waist level to hold "the two parts of the garment together, yet no buttons are provided, inasmuch as the pieces are stitched together. From the point 33 tot he crotch, or a line 34 adjacent thereto, the pieces may be left uns'ewe'd to provide a convenience outlet. f

Across the back, as is best seen in Figures 1 and 2 at'the neck, we provide a neck piece 4, preferably of stout woven material, and

extensions from this piece continue at either side along the margin of the respective front pieces 2 and 3. Thus the piece LEZ extends along the edge 21 of the front piece 2 from the shoulder to the tip of the wing 20, "and as this is made preferably o f stout woven mat'eri 211 with the warp and-weft pa ralilel'to and at right angles to the edge 21, respectively, it serves as a binder 'to prevent damage to this edge, and tearing thereof. Similarly, an extension 43 extends along the edge 31, and this is of like material, but is curved to present the warp of the material parallel to the edge 31'of the garment. This binding strip 43 may extend entirely to the crotch anda second piecec lQ may be secured to the right front piece 2 between 33 and 3-1. This strengthens the outlet at this point,

1, 12 and 43' serves such a purpose in the present garment, but it will be observed that the extension 12 extends across the medial line and to the point of securementaloiw the horizontal ltne 32 of the wing 20, and the extension 13 does not terminate at this point, but extends on down to the crotch. Thus the garment is firmly held in position,fas well as strengthened by "this neck pieceor yoke and its extensions. This givesl i fe to the garment, it adds to its wear, strengthens it, holds it in position, and makes easy the task of laundering it, especially ironing. lVhat we claim as our invention is:

1. A mans union *u-n'dergarment com'p'r is ingback and right and left front pieces, said front pieces being joined to theback piece along the sides, across the shoulders, and through the crotch, the edge of the left front "piece swinging in from the shoulder to'a medial line at or about breestlevel and then downwardly along the medial line to the crotch, the edgeof the right 'frontfpiece swinging in from the opposite shoulder to intersect the edge of the left front piece at or about breast level, and continuing laterally and downwardly beyond the edge of the left frontpiece, and beneath the "left *front piece, to a point ator above the waist lev'el, said front pieces being stitched along a horizontal line extending laterally from -'*the medial line, and substantially at "this latter level, but not thereabo've,qand being joined also alongthe medial line below this level, the edge of the right front piece swingi'n inward from and below its greatest latera extension to the medial hne above the crotch, the two front .pieces being unconnected from the crotch upwards along the medial line for adistance sufli'cient to leave a convenience outlet.

2. Ina mans union und'ergarme'ntof the type defined in claim 1, a strain-resisting The lower edge of r cured to the edge thereof, and another extension of said strain-resisting piece continuing from the shoulder of the right front piece to the horizontal line of stitching.

3. In a mans union undergarment of the type defined in claim 1, and cut from woven material wherein the warp and weft extend substantially transversely and longitudinally of the garment, a woven strain-resisting piece having the warp and weft also extending transversely and longitudinally,

said piece being secured to the back piece across the neck, and extending from one side of said neck piece from shoulder to crotch of the left front piece, along the edge thereof, and extending from the other end of said neck piece along the edge of the right front piece to the horizontal line of stitching, said extensions being curved to present the warp of the piece substantially parallel to the edge of the front piece.

4. A mans union undergarment comprising a back piece and right and left front pieces joined along their side edges, at the i shoulders and in the crotch to said back piece, both of said front pieces extending diagonally downward in a substantially straight line to the middle of the front, and

one onl havin a win continuin therebeyond at or above waist level, said front pieces being joined at this level, but not thereabove, by a transverse line of stitching connectingsaid wing, from its tip inward to the medial line, with the other front piece, and said front pieces being unconnected along a portion of the medial line, below such transverse line, to leave a convenience opening.

5. Aunion undergarment comprising connected back and right and left front pieces, the edge of one of said front pieces swinging infrom the shoulder to a medial, line at or about breast level and then downwardly along the medial line to the crotch, the edge of the other front piece swinging in from the opposite shoulder to intersect the edge of the first-mentioned front piece at or about breast level, and continuing laterally and downwardly beyond the edge of the said first-mentioned front piece, to a point at or above waist level, the upper ed e of the back piece, between the shoulders, eing acontinuous, substantially horizontal curve, said front pieces being stitched along a transverse line from the tip of the lateral extension of the second piece to the medial line, at or above waist level, and the two front pieces being unconnected along a portion of the medial line, below such line of stitching, to leave a convenience outlet.

Signed at Seattle, King County, Washing ton, this th day of June, 1927.

ANNIE RUDEN. ELLIS H. RUDEN, 

